I'm ALIVE

Why, hello FEBRUARY of 2013?!?!?! When did you get here and, how have I not blogged since November of last year?

~In other news, GIRL SCOUT COOKIE SEASON IS HERE!  And, I am officially a card-carrying-why-yes-I-do-drink-the-kool-aid-of-crossfit-cultness paleo eater. Don't you worry. I bought a bunch of boxes anyway. What - a cheat meal can consist of a whole box of tagalogs. DON'T JUDGE ME!

~You know those people who are all preachy about their diet? Like "OH, let me tell you all about why those GMO's are going to give you a brain tumor, and GLUTEN IS THE DEVIL". I have become one of those people. Don't you worry, its been too long since my last post to even get preachy on you up in here. But, all I gotta say is PALEO IS AMAZE-BALLS.

~Went to lunch today with N, because, of course, he has it off, and I had to be at work. We went to Steubens here in Denver. Great food, killer drink list, and the official meeting place of every hipster in Denver. No exaggeration, this group of 24 hipsters walked in while we were paying the bill. Each one had either a hoodie, beanie, or ironic hat on, with multiple piercings and tight ass jeans.  N thought that maybe this was the gathering of the hipsters leaders of Denver. Each person we picked to rep a place.  Obviously the kid with the fixie bike was from Cap Hill, but the girl with the pink hair could have been Highlands OR city park.  Who knew these guys were so organized?

~Kids, the work situation is bad. Need a new job. In other news, I have started a book called "How to be the Worst Manager Ever: Tips and tricks to make your employees really loathe coming into work."

~I got the strep and pink eye last month. First off, I have to say that I am thrilled it was not that nasty ass stomach flu (which my friend B did get, and she was out of commission for like 2 weeks). But, who the hell gets pink eye after the age of 6? I am 29 years old. Just ridiculous.

~Pot is legal in Colorado. On a completely unrelated note, I should probably buy more Girl Scout cookies. To support the local troops.

How half a billion dollars could change my life

Yep - I broke down and bought lotto tickets.  More like N bought lotto tickets for us, but still.  Hopefully this time tomorrow, I will be half a billion dollars richer, and will have quit my job to take that fabulous vacation to Bora Bora that I so desparately need.

What would you do with that amount of cash?  Well, I'll tell ya what LivDenver would do:

1) Build my dream home in Tahoe. Buy a dream home in Denver. Commute between both.
2) Pay off any and all debt (which really is just my car, but whatever).
3) Take an amazing around the world vacation with N.
4) Take my friends on an awesome vacation to Bora Bora.
5) Really do a huge blow out for my wedding.
6) Invest it all and live off the interest.

The last one sounds so boring, right? Well, shit, if I won, I would not really want to work for the rest of my life, so living off interest sounds good to me!! 

Here's hoping we have some winning numbers tonight so I don't have to go to work tomorrow!

Happy Thanksgiving Week!

My voice has been pretty silent on this little blog of mine over the last few months.  For you faithful readers who check this blog daily, I thank you for having unwavering faith in the fact that I may post something witty or interesting. I am sorry to have disappointed you.

Currently, I am listening to Christmas music on KOSI 101.1 here in Denver, and am thrilled that the holiday season is upon us. N and I have been busy doing wedding stuff, and I am finally done traveling for work as of the first week in November. LivDenver is pretty happy where her life is at.  And, I guess when I am happy, I am not as interested in blogging. Maybe that is because I am enjoying being in my life now, and not having to recap it in my fantasy world of this blog.

That being said, here is a bit of word vomit for your Thanksgiving week pleasure:

~I am going to do a full fledged turkey this Thanksgiving in lieu of my traditional turkey roulade.  I am also going to brine the turkey for the first time ever. Any suggestions?

~Went out for my friend's 31st Birthday party on Saturday night. Apparently I thought it was her 21st, because I drank like there was no tomorrow. And for me, there was no tomorrow, because I was a complete wreck on Sunday. I watched 8 episodes of Gossip Girl, ate McDonalds, and realized that none of this will help me get skinny for the wedding. Paleo diet in 2013 - here I come. 

~I told my sister I was going on the Paleo Diet because that is what crossfitters do.  And I am a crossfitter.. She told me that there was a reason that cavemen did not live beyond 35 years of age. I told her that was usually due to a saber tooth tiger or a wooly mammoth. She said it was because of diet. Potato/Potato (or in this case, sweet potato/sweet potato)

~Apparently I like to flick off the camera when I am drunk. Mainly it is because when N is drunk, he becomes the paparazzi, and takes a gazillion unflattering photos that should be no where near facebook. Thus, I just help the situation along by flicking off the camera.

~N and I are registering for the wedding tonight. I have been trying to do this for weeks. I want to register in the store for several reasons. One - I want to shop with a gun. Two - I want to touch, see, smell the items we are choosing. Three - I want to shop with a gun. I told him we HAD to do this before the holiday season, because the mall is going to be crazy otherwise. I am hoping that the Tuesday before Thanksgiving will be a good time to do this. Wish us luck. Also, I really really really want a Dyson.

~I hope that your Thanksgiving celebration is as great as mine. I am thankful this year for N, for my dog, for my family (especially my Dad), my house, my car, and all of my friends.  May your Thanksgiving day be as full of booze and good food as mine will be!

A little perspective post election

Presidential Election: "Sad and Tragic Day for America"

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween readers. Yea, I have been super absent this month, but I am finally back in action

~I love candy. My office has a huge candy bowl that is usually filled with crap - grape Jolly Ranchers and red and white peppermint candy. HOWEVER Halloween comes along and temptation is staring me in the face. Yes, I do need a kit kat break! How much do I love Nerds?  Damn you Halloween for what you do to my waistline.

~Biscoff spread is the new Nutella. You heard it here first.

~Last week I was in Ft. Lauderdale for the beginning of Hurricane Sandy. I went from 4 inches of snow in Denver to hurricane conditions in Florida. And the power in my hotel went out. Needless to say, it wasn't my week for weather. I cannot believe all the devastation on the east coast from the storm. Stay safe and may the odds ever be in your favor.

~Bought my tickets for Twilight - yea, I am secretly glad that this franchise is close to being over, but I am also excited about seeing the movie.  Summit may have played this one out too long. But, I cannot WAIT for Catching Fire.

~How the fuck is it November already?

~Wedding planning is going awesomely! It was N & my 6 year anniversary of the day we met on Sunday. I can't wait to start celebrating a new anniversary with him next year. Oh, and I got my wedding dress (EEK!)

~I swear, I am shooting for better postings come November. Thanks everyone for your patience!

And this happened last night

GIANTS WIN!!!!!

In other news, hey readers! What up? I have been on a major hiatus. Sorry, life gets in the way - you know, planning a wedding, watching the Giants kill in in the NL Playoffs, playing with my dog, and oh, yea, WORK!

I promise I will be back to normal at some point in the near future.  Otherwise, I am back in Ft. Lauderdale this week for the International Boat Show.

Kisses and Vodka,
Liv

I love you Vail

Dinner at La Bottega and Sweet Basil. Hiking amongst the aspens with my love and my dog. Staying at the Sonnenalp. Buying ski jackets for 70% off.

Yea, you could say I had a good weekend.

Wedding Ruminations

I would like to start off by saying that I am so thrilled to be marrying N, and that I pretty much hit the jackpot of amazing people. While words seem to escape me now on how excited I am, I hope they will flow freely on our wedding day - mainly because we are writing our own vows.

My wedding photographer posted this link on her FB Page, only to state that she disagreed with the writer, and I do too. (Feel free to check out the article here - Big Weddings are Overrated and Expensive)

While an elopement may be appropiate for some, it certainly isn't for others. Guess what Torie - I want a big wedding. Yep, I was that girl that dressed up as a bride. I have been dreaming about my wedding since I was 5 years old.  For fucks sake, I love wedding and parties so much, I made a 5 year career out of it.  N knew this when he proposed. And, guess what, he still did it!

I totally own the fact that this is what I want.  And, yes, the economy is shitty, and yes, I am sure there is other ways I can spend money. However, this is what I want to spend money on. I want to have a night where everyone I love in the entire world comes together under one roof to celebrate me and my chosen life partner.  I want to spoil my friends and family with great food, awesome drinks, and a kick ass dance party. I am pumped that I have a great photographer to document it all, so years to come, I can show our kids and grand kids that the wedding night truly was one of the best nights of my life. And, it was an amazing party to kick start an incredible new chapter with the man I love. Because, I am so excited that the end result of a wedding is a marriage. A marriage with N.

So, Torie, while you may have done it your way, don't look down on others who want to do it their way.   Also, PS - I am not throwing this party for the gifts, as your "acquaintance" so suggested. But, I have been invited to enough weddings to also know that I will have a large registry to choose from.  Because NO ONE wants to be that person who shows up without a hostess gift. Or the one that buys wooden spoons.  Just an FYI for you.

Blowing is a hard job.....

Well, after a completely shit-tastic day yesterday, N and I had a fun date planned - we went and blew glass.  I bought a living social coupon to go back in February, and we had our date last night.

Between all the blow job jokes and the awesome shot glass I made, I actually was able to get over my crappy day and have a nice night with my man.

Also, for once, N had to get on his knees and blow.

On a side note, the posts have been lacking as of late. Work calls, my wedding planning calls, crossfit calls. Goal of October is to post something every weekday.  Lets see if it happens.

"She's just being Miley..."

Or is she just being LivDenver circa 2006?????

You be the judge....

Freedom of thought

Probably the best FB post I have seen in a while was, ironically, about the RNC. A republican friend said that they enjoyed it. And, instead of lots of hate and arguing that usually ensues in the comment section, a democratic friend just disagreed with his opinion, but followed it up with "Hey it is the USA and all should have opinions and free thoughts as long as you vote. :-)". My republican friend agreed. 

So, obviously while I may agree with one party more than another, I believe it stands to be said that EVERYONE is allowed to have opinions and free thoughts, as long as you exercise your right to vote.

Also, "Your political rant on facebook really made me change my way of thinking", said no one ever*.


*May have stolen that from someecards.

#3 for August....

I am tired of being uninspired to write a blog posting. You only got 2 posts for the month of August, and for that, I am sorry.

~So, I took off 2 of my fingertips using a mandolin in the kitchen. Trust that it hurt like a mutha fucker, and I pretty much was bleeding profusely for an entire evening.  So, I have had awesome bandages on my fingers for the last week.  Here comes the difference between people who cook and people who don't.  People who cook knew immediately what devise I cut myself on.  People who don't cook thought I had taken up a musical instrument, and was practicing too hard.  Please - anyone who knows me is aware that I have no musical talent when it comes to string instruments. But, that recorder - I can ROCK the recorder.

~Only 383 days until N & I get hitched.  And, I feel like I am pretty far behind on shit.  Which is so confusing, because, HELLO - THAT IS OVER A YEAR AWAY!  Shouldn't I have plenty of time?

~I triple hearts "Say Yes to the Dress" on TLC. Yep, a bit wedding obsessed.

~N & I went to a wedding this weekend, and tried to drink all the liquor in Denver. We were unsuccessful. But, we did give ourselves the nastiest hangover EVER on Sunday. It was so bad that N decided to call in sick today.  I, on the other hand, am working like cray cray today. Pssh, men. Toughen up!!

~Making tomato sauce tonight from our INSANE amount of tomatoes. Thanks Smitten Kitchen!

~PLEASE tell me you saw the True Blood season finale last night. WHAT. THE. FUCK.

~A work plug: brought over this product from Amsterdam. It's pretty cool.  Check it out:

Whore Island, Fur-Aunts and GOOP

~You know those girls that you have met at least 6 times, and every time they look at you, and go "Oh, I'm sorry, I don't think we have met..." I really hate those girls. Like, really hate them.  You can totally have a grace period of 2 different meetings (3 if you have been drinking) and it's acceptable. But, bitch, if you have met me 6 times, and then choose to hit on my fiance, then we gots issues. Especially when you are married, you whore. Go back to whore island.

~As N would say, "Tell me how you really feel."

~Just got back from Wisconsin with N. We had a fabulous week away with his family, and only had ONE meltdown the entire time we were gone. I don't know about you, but with my side of the family, one meltdown in a week is completely unheard of.  In fact, my seester and I probably have 6 meltdowns on a regular basis when we are with each other in CA. Did I mention that N really loves Christmas with my family?

~Seester took care of the house while N and I were gone, and was also a fabulous fur-aunt to Cali. She also held a party at our house, on my suggestion.  Her friends thought she was being all sneaky by throwing a house party and not telling me, and when she texted me a photo of everyone enjoying our backyard, I was all like, AWESOME.  And her friends asked her what she was doing, so she told them. They were all in shock that I suggested her hosting the party in the first place.  Um, hello, I am a) Not our mother and b) Seester is 26 years old. She can totally host a nice event without trashing the place. Then, I thought to myself, am I totally the cool seester everyone wants? Of course I am.

~N built a bocce ball court in our backyard last weekend. It took him 2 days and many sweaty man hours to put it in. I think he is a keeper. Also, FYI for the male audience - manual labor is sexy. Dead sexy.

~Saw Book of Mormon last night. Fucking hysterical. I mean, for reals, it was South Park brought to real life.  My favorite song by far: "I Believe".

~Also saw Huey Lewis and the News on Sunday.  Another GREAT CONCERT! Except, Huey's light show left a lot to be desired. It was a whopping total of 16 lights that flashed at random intervals. Where was GOOP when you need her? You know that Gwyn would have been like "I flew in these Finnish lights, and they were only $400,000. My best friend and light goddess, Celestial Underweird, was gracious enough to show me how to create a successful but classy light show to accompany 'The Power of Love' perfectly." I was secretly hoping that Gwynnie would magically appear onstage, and Huey and her could sing "Crusin". I for realsies love Duets the movie. 

Love FB Olympic Status

Hi, my name is LivDenver, and I am Olympic addict. I get an adrenaline rush every time I see Gabby perform a double layout, or watch Michael win by 4/100ths of a second.  I LIVE for the Ryan Seacrest human interest stories. Hell, I even love Bob Costas and his soothing voice enticing me to really be excited about archery.   

I also like watching the Olympics that are aired from 7 pm - 11 pm mtn time here in Denver.  I will legitimately sign off from the interwebs and FB starting at 10 am my time, so the evening festivities are not ruined for me.

However, post DVR, I really enjoy going back on FB and seeing what my friends are commenting on. Here are a few of my fav's

C: "These half pony / half bun thing these gymnasts have going on seems very unprofesh."

J: "Do we not yet have the technology to find an alternate method of pinning numbers to uniforms?"

J: "How does one become a "charismatic diver ""

S: "A female gymnast's career ends the same way this sentence does."

And, on a completely random and non Olympic related note, if you need a good chuckle this fabulous Friday, please check out the tumblr below. TOTES PROMISE it is SFW.

Bon Iver Erotica

What makes you a native Denverite?

I, LivDenver, have resided in the great city of Denver for over 11 years.  11 YEARS!  While I will always be a native Nor-Cal girl, I do believe (gasp) that I may finally be a true Denverite.  I was having this conversation over dim sum at Kings Landing on Sunday with several of my friends, and we were discussing what makes you a "native of Denver".  Mind you, everyone at the table had either lived in or currently lives in Denver for at least 6 years, with my friend and myself taking the cake at 11 years strong. It got me thinking what actually constitutes a real Denverite, and when you can say you are a native.  Of course, I have come up with the following list:

~You know the difference between University of Denver AND University of Colorado, Denver. You also know that DU and University of Denver are the same, but should NEVER be refereed to as Denver University. 

~You have eaten at the original Chipotle.

~The Cherry Creek Whole Foods was the inspiration for this You Tube video*

~Mountains are west. But, don't tell me to drive "east" or "south". Tell me left, right or straight.

~You know that the beer in the Rockies stadium is more expensive than the tickets.

~Red Rocks is the only acceptable venue to see any musical act at.  Mainly because it is the only venue that you can brag about to your out of state friends, and they are all jealous. I have never heard someone say "OMG, I can't believe you saw Tom Petty at the Comfort Dental amphitheater - SO JEALOUS!"

~You have eaten every type of organic item, and find yourself comparing Sunflower Markets (soon to be Sprouts), only because we don't have Trader Joe's.

~You know what the "short tour" is at Coors Factory, and have done it.

~You know that the 16th street "free mall ride" buses will hit your ass if you aren't paying attention (damn silent but deadly hybrids!!)

~If you can't get into LoDo's cause you are too drunk, well then my friend, you are one shot away from a visit to the ER.

~You can list off at least 5 microbreweries that are within biking distance of your house.

~It really is "Men-ver" if you are between the ages of 22-26. Also, you understand the saying that the "odds are good, but the goods are odd".

~The Baker neighborhood is just a really nice way of saying you live off Broadway. 

~You love getting your out of town friends drunk, mainly because they are cheap ass dates here in the "Mile High" city.

~Rockbar is only acceptable after an extremely heaving night of drinking and/or doing drugs.  You also cannot get there before midnight.

~St. Patty's Day and Opening Day are the biggest shit shows in LoDo. But you go every year anyway. 

~You have participated in some type of pub crawl (yes, my birthday every year does count!)

~Your match.com profile lists very specifically if you are a
a) Skiier
b) Boarder
c) None of the above
and you will only date someone if they participate (or lack there of) in the same snow sport you do. 

~You know that Denver has more sunshine than any other place in the US, and you constantly remind everyone of it. 

*Ok, this fact isn't true, but you know it should be!